Don't Cry For Pain
by Eplen91
Summary: Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning. Ryan/OC
1. Old friends

I don't own anything but I do own OC, so please don't sue me. Thanks to my beta, JauntyChick. :D All mistakes are mine. ;)

_Chapter 1: Old friends_

It was Friday evening and Ryan was tapping his foot impatiently while waiting at the Miami International Airport in terminal E for flight 2111 from Boston. He looked down at his watch, and the face showed 08:00pm.

The flight should have been here for an hour ago, he thought, feeling the irritation taking over.

"The flight from Boston is arriving at gate 30. We are sorry for the delay." He heard the automated voice announced from the speakers. He calmed down and headed for gate 30. It had been a long time, since he had seen her. The last time he had seen her was on his last trip to Boston, visiting his family and friends.

The sliding doors opened and she went through, out to the terminal. She looked around over the huge crowd. Her smile grew larger when she saw him and she waved to get his attention. He saw her and waved back. She made her way through the crowd, dropped her bags and threw herself at him, "Ryan! I've missed you."

"I've missed you too, Phoebe," Ryan said, pulling back and studied her. She wore a pair of skinny jeans, white flats and a brown top, which showed a fraction of the large scar on her lower stomach.

Ryan picked up the first bag. While picking up the second bag, he grimaced, "What do you have in this bag?"

"Shoes," She smiled.

He rolled his eyes and picked up the second bag, "Shall we go?"

Phoebe nodded and followed Ryan to the parking lot where he had parked his car. She opened the door to the passenger seat and climbed in while Ryan placed the bags in the back seat.

When Ryan was done, he sat down in the driver seat, started the car and manouvered it out of the parking lot. "How was the flight?" he asked looking at her for a moment before focusing his attention back at the road.

"Horrible!" she grimaced and continued, "one of the crew members didn't turn up, so we had to wait for a replacement and the most horrible thing was the little devil child behind me. One point during the flight he started to scream and kick my seat. I was so close to hitting him with a magazine. I hate kids. Well, I don't hate kids that don't talk back."

Ryan shook his head and chuckled, "You haven't changed at all."

She grinned and turned her gaze out of the window, scouting at the surroundings. The Miami sun glared outside, reflecting on the water. They drove past several short fat palms and tall skinny palms**.** She had always considered Miami to be the most beautiful place in America. She felt really blessed that she had been given this opportunity to work as a CSI there.

The drive from the airport to Ryan's apartment took 40 minutes. They stepped out from the car, took out the bags and walked inside the apartment. "I'm just going to put your bags in the guest room," he informed her, leaving her alone in the living room. Phoebe dropped her body on the sofa and leaned back and closed her eyes. Hearing some footsteps, her eyes automatically opened. "There's some towels in the bathroom for you. I'm going to make something to eat, so just make yourself at home."

"Well, then I'm going to take a shower." She stood up from the sofa and fumbled her way to the bathroom.

There wasn't anything better than a shower after a 3 hour and 6 minutes flight, she felt like a new person. Stepping out of the bathroom, the smell from the kitchen tickled her nose as it drifted past her. "I didn't know that you still cook! Remember when you tried to make some Indian food? That was probably my most traumatizing food related experience," she grinned and allowed herself to fall on the sofa and turned on the TV.

"Very funny," He paused and changed the subject away from his cooking skills, "how's Jason?"

The name Jason sent a chill down her spine and the different bad tastes that had melted together in her mouth, provoked an urged to spit out, "I don't know," Phoebe said a little too quickly and gave him a convincing smile that she didn't know how Jason was or where he was. She turned her gaze back at the TV screen and bit her lower lip.

"Is everything okay?" he asked a bit worried.

"Of course," she assured him and forced out a yawn, "I'm going to bed."

"But what I'm going to do with the food?"

"Don't know. Goodnight Ryan."

"Goodnight," Ryan said back. That was odd. He couldn't recall that she had ever acted like that. The last time he had been in Boston, Jason and Phoebe had been very much in love. Various ideas on what could have happened raced through his mind. Only thing he could think of where perhaps they had a nasty breakup, Ryan concluded.

* * *

I just want to let you guys know that English isn't my first language.


	2. Concrete Angel part 1

_**Through the wind and the rain**_

_**She stands hard as a stone**_

_**In a world that she cant rise above**_

_**But her dreams give her wings**_

_**And she flies to a place**_

_**Where she's loved**_

_**Concrete Angel**_

_**Martina McBride - Concrete Angel**_

_Ryan was walking to the break room for a well deserved break. He had been on his feet from 10:00 am to 14:20 pm...He had also been helping Phoebe to move in to the new apartment she had bought three week ago and what she had thought to be a good deal. Ryan was about to place his hand on the door handle to the break room when he heard someone calling after him__. Ryan turned and saw Eric Delko walking towards him. _

_"Wolfe, we have a case. Calleigh and Phoebe are meeting us at the crime scene," Eric informed him. _

_Arriving at the crime scene, both of them grabbed their kits, stepped out of the car and made their way behind the yellow tape to the crime scene. There was a huge mass of people that had gathered behind the yellow crime scene tape, whispering and pointing._

_"Gentlemen, glad that you could join us," Horatio said when he saw Ryan and Eric approaching. _

_"Sorry boss, but there was traffic," Eric excused and glanced around before freezing his gaze at Horatio, "what happened?"_

_Frank Tripp, who was standing next to Horatio, opened his mouth to answer while simultaneously opening his notepad. "Tina Bradford, age 45, found dead in her own house by her husband Joe Bradford. He found his 8-year old daughter, Zoe Bradford curled up in a corner in bloody clothes," he explained. _

_Glancing around Ryan's gaze landed on a huge, rotund man standing with a little girl who was holding a huge pink teddy bear. She was being taken care of by some paramedics. He opened his mouth to ask who it was, Tripp cut him off, "what the hell?!" _

_They turned, spotting a car coming in high speed, causing some of the police officers to throw themselves to the side. They raised an eyebrow minus Ryan, who knew who the driver was. _

_The car came to a halt and the window to the driver seat rolled down and Phoebe's head popped out, "Oops. Sorry!" _

_Calleigh and Phoebe stepped out of the car and headed to the others. _

_"Somethin' burnin'?" Tripp asked Phoebe when they walked over to them._

_"I probably should loosen up on the accelerator," Phoebe answered, a little embarrassed._

_"Let's get to work. Ryan and Phoebe, you take the rooms upstairs. Eric and Calleigh, you take downstairs," Horatio said._

_"Yes, Sir," they said in unison._

_Walking in, they found Alexx Woods kneeling beside the body. Realizing there was body right in front of Phoebe looking at her, she completely froze. _

_"What did you find, Alexx?" Calleigh asked_

_"She has been dead for three hours and it seems that she has been beaten to death, but I can't say anything for sure without an autopsy," she answered and pointed at the body with her left hand, "But I can say for sure that she was fighting for her life." She looked up, "are you okay sweetheart?"_

_They turned and looked at Phoebe who was standing behind them. _

_"I'm just not used to seeing dead bodies," she gave them a soft smile. _

_"Phoebe and I are taking the up stairs." Ryan placed his hand on Phoebe's shoulder and guided her up the stairs. "Are you okay?" Ryan asked when they were up stairs. Phoebe nodded wordlessly and followed Ryan into the room. _

_Walking in to the room, they glanced around. The room looked like a regular room for an 8-year-old girl. Wallpaper was pink with white ribbons, the toys were cleaned away, but what caught Phoebe's attention were the dolls and teddy bears on the shelf that stood above the bed, were turned the other way. On the other shelf the toys were standing the right way. "That's weird." _

_"What's weird?" Ryan asked_

_"Look at that shelf. The toys are facing the other way, while the toys on the other shelf are facing the right way." Phoebe pointed out to Ryan._

_"__Maybe she just put it like that," Ryan said, taking out the camera and started to take pictures. Phoebe shrugged and continued to collect evidence. _

_Once Phoebe and Ryan were finished with taking pictures and processing the scene, they walked down stairs where Eric and Calleigh were still processing the scene. _

_"What did you guys find?" Ryan asked, stepping down from the stairs. _

_Calleigh looked up from the camera "Bloody footprints leading from the victim and out to the backyard and a bloody fingerprint on the door handle. Did you guys find anything?"_

_"Some fingerprints and blood behind the bed. We'll head back to the lab with the evidence," Ryan stated, stepped out with Phoebe walking beside him. _


	3. Concrete Angel part 2

I wanted to say that this chapter and chapter 2 have something to do with the story. I promise that the whole plot is going to start in the next chapter. :D

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_Phoebe walked down to the autopsy room after Calleigh had been paged by Alexx. Calleigh had told Phoebe that she could do it. It was Phoebe's first autopsy. She walked with mixed emotions. She was happy to get her first autopsy over with her, but on the other hand she was scared thanks to Ryan who had told her about the boiling head and the man who had rose from the dead. As she walked, she spotted Cooper. "Cooper," she yelled after him and hurried over to him with a huge grin on her face. She always felt like a 13 year old girl again when he was around. _

_"Hey. What's up?" Cooper asked _

_"Autopsy, and you?" she asked._

_"I'm just going to hand over some paperwork." _

_"Oh, by the way, thank you for the book. You'll get it back tomorrow, but see you later," she smiled and started to walk to the autopsy room. When she saw the door leading into the autopsy room, she slowed down, eventually came to stop and took a deep breath, opening the door and entered. Her eyes winded and her stomach threatened to push up her lunch when she was greeted by the sight of dead body with open chest. _

_"Did Calleigh send you?" Alexx asked and stepped over the table where the body was laying. _

_"Yes, she did. What've you got for me?" _

_"She was beaten to death. I also found skin under the vic's nails." Alexx handed her a plastic bag with the sample, "and I also found some old fractures on the two of the top ribs and newly broken one." _

_"That's all?" Phoebe asked, shocked. Where was the boiling head Ryan had talked about?_

_"Did you expect more?" Alexx smirked and raised an eyebrow. _

_"No...but...well Ryan had told me that you had boiled a head under his first autopsy."_

_"Not boiling but _processing_," she corrected her. _

_Phoebe laughed, "Bye Alexx, maybe I'll see you later." _

**XOX**

_After searching for Calleigh with no luck, she stepped into an empty lab and ran the swab she had gotten from in the _CODIS.

_"What are you doing?" Calleigh questioned her._

_"Hm?" Phoebe looked up, "Oh yeah, Alexx found skin under our vic's nails. I'm running the DNA through the CODIS." When the CODIS blinked that it got a match, Phoebe's eyes winded. _

_"What?" Calleigh hurried over to Phoebe, glancing over her shoulder at the machine, "I suggest that we should take a little chat with Mr. Bradford." _

_After a half hour later, Calleigh and Phoebe were sitting across the table, looking at Mr. Bradford who wasn't happy at all. _

_"You are wasting your time by talking with me. Why aren't you out trying to find who killed my wife," Mr. Bradford barked at them, the anger was shining in his eyes. _

_"Your wife was beaten to death, Mr. Bradford" Calleigh told him._

_"So? What does it have to do with me?" _

_"You were arrested for beating your girlfriend and sentenced to one year in prison and weekly sessions in anger management therapy." _

_"That bitch deserved it," he spat at them and paused, "but after those anger management sessions I became a new man and I loved my wife." _

_Suddenly Phoebe could feel the anger rising in her. Her body had started to shake. She was gripped by a fear she hadn't felt for a long time and memories that she had tried to forget was racing through her mind. _

_"I'm sorry," she stood up and quickly walked out of the integration room. On her way out, she saw the little girl who she had seen on the crime scene, sitting and hugging a pink teddy bear. _

**XX**

_"Hey Phoebe, wait up." Calleigh ran after her, when she spotted her in the lab after she had questioned Mr. Bradford. _

_Phoebe stopped, let out a sighed and turned, "I'm really sorry Calleigh. I don't know why I reacted that way," she lied. _

_Calleigh smiled and opened her mouth to say something, but she was cut of by her phone. "Duquesne?" Her smile faded, "We're on our way." She hung up, "Come on." _

_As Calleigh and Phoebe climbed out of the car, they were greeted by Det. Tripp. Glancing around Phoebe spotted Mr. Bradford sitting in the back of police car._

_"What happened?" Calleigh asked looking around. _

_"Some neighbours heard some screams on the street. They decided to check it out and when they did, they saw Mr. Bradford walking down the streets with clothes and hands covered in blood. They called the police and when the police arrived they found Zoe Bradford dead in her own bed." _

_Calleigh let out a sad sigh and shook her head, "That son of a bitch. He had to come home, beat his wife and then head back to work." _

_They entered the house where the body of Tina Bradford had been found and headed up the stairs to Zoe Bradford's room, were Calleigh and Phoebe saw Zoe laying on the bed with her best friend in her arms. If it wasn't for the blood it would had looked like she was sleeping peacefully with her teddy bear. _

_"Oh God," Phoebe let out a quiet squeak, "Now I know why the toys were facing the wrong way," Phoebe nodded towards the shelf, "she didn't want them to see what her dad was doing to her." Phoebe tried as hard she could to hold back the tears. _

_"Are you okay?" Calleigh asked, walking over to Phoebe. _

_Phoebe nodded, "I'm just so damn emotional. Maybe this job isn't for me."_

_"Go back to the lab and maybe tomorrow everything will be different."_

_"Are you sure?" _

_"Yes. I'll get a ride with someone and it won't take long to finish up here," Calleigh smiled. _

_"Sorry," Phoebe excused herself. _

_"Hey don't be sorry. You are just a human being who has a lot of compassion for others." _

_"Thank you, Calleigh," Phoebe smiled. _

_It had been a long drive to the lab. The only thing that had been on her mind was the poor little girl with the pink teddy bear. At least she had her best friend by her side. Phoebe walked into the locker room, satdown and leaned her head against the wall. _

_"Hey," Ryan greeted her when he walked in. Phoebe sent him a soft smile. "Something wrong?" he asked, sitting down beside her. _

_"I think...that I can't do this job. I should have listened to my mom and become a lawyer. I'm so stupid sometimes."_

_"You're not stupid. Okay, sometimes, _maybe_," he joked. _

_"Hey." She exclaimed and pushed him playfully._

_"There is someone who is asking for both of you. He clams that he's an old friend," Eric informed who was standing in doorway._

_Ryan and Phoebe exchanged questioned looks and stood up and walked out to see who it was with Phoebe following after him. _

_Seeing who it was, Phoebe stopped and her whole body started to shake in fear. "Jason! Why can't you just leave me alone!" she screamed while the tears rolled down her cheeks and stormed into the elevator. _


	4. The Safest Place

**Hello! I'm back! ;) I have to say that I have done some reaches on military and read some articles to make sure that what I have written is not wrong and realistic. So if there are some mistakes, it's not my fault. It's the internet! :P ****Anyway here is chapter 4. :D**

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Chapter 4: The Safest Place

_I wanna be strong__  
__But I don't wanna be alone tonight__  
__I wanna believe that I can save the world__  
__And make it right__  
__But I'm only human and you've got a hero's face__  
__Right here in your arms is the safest place__  
__The safest place_

_LeAnn Rimes – The Safest Place_

It began to get dark outside. Ryan had been looking for Phoebe in almost every place in Miami he could think of. The last place he was about to check was his apartment. He had forgotten about his apartment, the first place he had been to was Phoebe's apartment and then the beach. The beach was Phoebe's favourite place in Miami. Before coming to Miami, all she did was talk about how beautiful the beach was. Ryan pulled into the driveway and as he stepped out he felt the moist air and a raindrop falling on his nose. Walking in, he saw Phoebe sitting curled outside of his apartment. He let out a sigh of relief.

"Hey. I've been looking for you. Have you been here long?" He asked while he sat down beside her. She shrugged not even looking at him. "Phoebe, please look at me." She lifted her gaze and met a pair of concerned eyes. "What happened with Jason and you?"

Phoebe whipped away a tear that had rolled down onto her cheek, "he…he…," She closed her eyes, causing the tears that had grown in them to roll down her cheek. She opened her eyes, "he beat me." She managed to say before her voice broke. Ryan felt the anger rise inside of him.

"He did what?" He had heard what she had said, but he couldn't believe it. Jason of all people wouldn't lay a hand on a woman.

"He beat me. After he had come home from Afghanistan, he was completely changed man. I saw it in his face. He was broken. His best friend had been killed right in front of him." She paused and took a deep breath. "The first time he beat me was one week after he had come home. I was sleeping and suddenly I felt someone holding me down. I opened my eyes and saw Jason on top of me, crying and then he started to beat me and screamed that I had killed his best friend. Then he got paranoid. He come home drunk, accusing me of sleeping around and then he started to beat me. The last time he beat me, he broke my jaw. Thank God it was just a simple break. If it wasn't for my mom, I would probably be dead. She wanted me to press charges against him but I couldn't do it. So I left him. One day he showed up on my doorstep and told me that it was my fault that he had been dishonorable discharge from the military." She took a deep breath, "it seams that he have forgotten all about it or he is hoping that I have forgotten about it. I don't know why he is here. I really don't care about him anymore."

Ryan put an arm on her shoulder and pulled her closer, "I can't believe that Jason beat you. Why didn't you just leave him immediately? You should have called me."

"I couldn't just leave him. He needed me. I said to myself that it wasn't his fault. Besides, why should I have called you? You were so busy with work and I didn't want to bother you. You know what? I lost my Jason the minute he bored that airplane to Afghanistan."

A door opened and an old lady came out. She was wearing a green bathrobe and fluffy pink slippers, "is everything ok here?" the old lady asked, looking from Phoebe to Ryan.

"Everything is okay, Mrs Finnegan," Ryan assured her. Mrs Finnegan nodded, smiled and walked inside again, "Let's go inside. You're staying with me tonight."

"Are the neighbours always that curious?" Phoebe asked while standing up. Ryan nodded and opened the door. As he walked in he placed his car keys on the kitchen counter, opened the refrigerator.

"Do you want something to eat...or drink?"

"Do have some vodka?" Phoebe sat down on sofa.

Ryan raised an eyebrow, "Vodka?"

"Yes vodka! Let's get wasted!"

"No, we are not getting wasted."

Phoebe crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, "okay." She walked over to the place Ryan had his DVDs and picked out a DVD. "If we aren't getting wasted, can we watch a movie?" She held up the DVD, so Ryan could see.

"Sure. Phoebe, are you okay?" He walked over the sofa and slumped down on the sofa.

"Yes. I'm okay. I don't want to talk about it." She fumbled her way over to DVD player and started the movie and slumped down next to Ryan.

Half way into the movie, Phoebe had fell asleep so Ryan had to carry her to the guest room. Now Ryan was laying in his bed listening to the thunder storm outside. Ryan closed his eyes and rolled over to his left side. Hearing some noise, he stretched out a hand and turned on the lamp. It was Phoebe, standing in the doorway. He rubbed his face, "Something wrong?"

"Well… eh….I… can I sleep with you?"

Ryan smirked, "Sure. Jump in."

Phoebe climbed into the bed, snuggled into Ryan's embrace and looked up at him, "You are the best friend a person could wish for." Suddenly a thunder hit and the lightning lightened up the whole room. Phoebe closed her eyes and tightened her grip around Ryan.

"Are you still scared of thunder and lightning?" Ryan asked.

"A little bit," she admitted, "remember when we were little and your mom went out and put your brother in charged and then he went out, and he left us alone."

Ryan smiled, looking down at her, "and the thunder and lightning began. You were so scared that you didn't want to let go of me."

"Hey! I wasn't the only one that was scared. You held on me too."

"Some one had to protect you from the thunder and lightning, right?"

"Right," Phoebe yawned, closing her eyes, "goodnight, Ryan."

"Goodnight," Ryan answered back and fell asleep.

XX

The sun glared through the curtains and struck Ryan in the middle of his face. Alarm clock rang. Ryan, who was lying on his stomach, stretched out his hand to turn off the alarm clock. He knuckled his eyes and then he realized that he was alone. He stood up and walked into the kitchen and found a note on the kitchen counter. Ryan picked up the note, "See you at work, Ryan. Phoebe," he read out loud. He threw the note and headed for the bathroom to get ready for work.

He arrived at the crime lab an hour later and was heading straight to the break room to get his morning coffee. Walking past the Audio/Visual lab, he heard a very familiar laughter. Peaking in as he walked, he saw Cooper and Phoebe laughing probably of a bad joke Cooper had told her. Continued walking, he arrived to the break room, where he saw Eric.

"Morning," Eric greeted.

"Hey," Ryan greeted back and walked over to coffee maker. Suddenly, Eric's cell phone trilled, causing Ryan to jump.

"Delko," Eric answered and frowned, "Alright, we're on our way." He turned off his cell phone and looked at Ryan while standing up, "it looks like you have to take that coffee later. Frank called. We have a case."

Ryan sighed, putted the coffee mug back and headed out after Eric.

XX

Eric and Ryan arrived at the crime scene and stepped. Beside some police cars and police officers, a handful of viewers, the parking lot were empty. The moist air that Ryan had felt yesterday was still hanging in the air. They ducked under the crime scene tape and walked over to Frank. "What do we got?" Ryan asked.

"A Jane Doe. The body was found at 8:40 this morning by a woman passing by," Frank told them.

"A hit and run?" Eric asked.

"Well that was the first thought but this was found on the body." Frank handed Eric two plastic bags, one with a cross inside and the other with a note.

"For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon 20:9," Eric read out loud and looked up at Frank and Ryan, "maybe we have a serial killer on the loose."

"Or maybe our Jane Doe really pissed somebody off," Frank said.


	5. Haitian voodoo

I'm back! Sorry for taking so long with this chapter. Thanks for the reviews.

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_Chapter 5: Haitian voodoo_

It had become warmer and warmer by the hour and the sun was glaring. Ryan and Eric had been processing the scene for hours now without finding any evidence. It had been two hours since Alexx had taken the body.

"Have you found anything?" Ryan asked Eric, standing up.

Eric looked up from what he was doing. "No, you?"

"Nada. The rain must have washed away the evidence. I hope Alexx is luckier than us," Ryan said and gazed over the parking lot, spotting security camera a little further away. "Look, there's a security camera. Maybe there's something on the camera that we can use to catch the killer. I'll tell Frank to get the tape." Ryan picked up his kit and went to look for Frank, leaving Eric behind.

---

Frank had gotten the tape off the security camera, handed it to Ryan, who had handed the tape over to Cooper. Ryan was on his way over to Cooper to see what he had found.

"Have you found anything on that tape, Coop?" Ryan asked, stepping into the AV lab. "_Tell me _that you have found something."

Cooper turned around in his chair. "Yes, I have," he said and turned back at the screen and hit the play button. Ryan crossed his arms, looking at the screen.

"That...what is that?" Ryan pointed at the screen.

Cooper looked closer. "It looks like a star." Cooper zoomed in. "It's a tattoo."

"Great, now we have to look for a man with a star tattoo on his arms," Ryan said sarcastically. "Thanks."

"No problem."

As Ryan walked out he bumped into Eric. "I was looking for you. Alexx has ID our Jane Doe as Amanda Smith. Her parents are on their way," Eric told him.

----

Ryan and Eric were standing in examining booth with Amanda's parents.

"Are you ready?" Eric asked Amanda's parents

They nodded and Eric gave a signal to Alexx to remove the sheet. Mrs. Smith held her breath as Alexx removed the sheet.

"Oh my God, NOOOO! God please! NO! NO!" Mrs. Smith shook her head while stepping back from the window. It was then her legs bowed underneath her, and before she dropped to her knees, Ryan managed to catch her and guided her over to one of the chairs.

Mr. Smith just stood there looking down at his daughter. He seemed unaffected.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Eric gave his condolences.

Mr. Smith turned his gaze from his daughter to Eric. "Don't be. My daughter was long dead to me."

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Mrs. Smith screamed at her husband. "How can you say that?! Your daughter is _dead_!"

"I lost my daughter when she decided to curse us! She made voodoo dolls of us in her room and wished that we were dead, Kelly. And then some old hag shows up at our door step and demands money from us because our irresponsible daughter wasted her money on witchcraft and black magic. And that boyfriend of hers that was using her only to get money. It wouldn't surprise me if it turns out that it was he that killed her."

"Mr. Smith, what did you mean about an old hag?" Ryan asked.

"She owns a Haitian voodoo shop. She told us that someone in our family is going to die if we don't pay back." Mr. Smith frowned. "I can give you the address."

The CSI handed the man a piece of paper and a pen to jot the address down on. Mr. Smith scribbled a few lines and handed it back to Ryan.

Ryan thanked him and was about to walk out when Mrs. Smith grabbed a hold of Ryan's arms. "Please tell me that you're going to catch my daughter's killer." She looked him deep in his eyes. "Please."

"We are going to do everything we can to catch your daughter's killer," Ryan promised her.

"What do you think?" Ryan asked Eric when they were outside of the examining booth.

"I don't know. I think that we should bring Amanda's boyfriend into questioning. Maybe he can shed some light."

"Yeah, I'm going to visit the voodoo shop."

----

Ryan opened the door to the voodoo shop, entered and walked up to the chaser stand. "Hello, anybody there?" Ryan asked, leaning over the chaser stand.

"What can I help you with?" a woman asked, with a Jamaican accent.

"I'm Ryan Wolfe, MDPD crime lab." He showed his ID. "I've got some question for you." He held up a picture of Amanda. "Does she look familiar to you?"

The woman looked closer at the picture. "Ah, Amanda Smith is regular customer here."

"Where were you from 4 AM to 5 AM?"

"I was in Jamaica with my husband. I came back today. Wait I'm going to find my ticket." She went to the backroom and came back with two plane tickets. "Here." She handed the tickets over to Ryan. Ryan looked at the ticket and gave it back. "Why do you ask me questions about Amanda?" she looked curiously. "Something happened to Amanda?"

"She was found dead this morning. You were outside her parent's house just three days before Amanda was killed."

"I didn't know that Amanda didn't live there anymore." She crossed her arms and smirked. "I know who killed her."

Ryan raised an eyebrow, "Who?"

"Kalfu." She said simply.

"And where can I find this Kalfu?"

The woman laughed dryly, "Kalfu is the Haitian god of the night, symbolized by the moon. He is thought to be very dangerous." Her eyes darkened. "I told her that Haitian voodoo isn't something you're playing with. It looks like she didn't listen to me."

"Uhm, thank you for answering my questions." Ryan turned and started to walk.

"I hope that you hold your life and life to people close to you high, Mr. Wolfe." She said.

He turned, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know when the time will come." She gave him an evil smile.

Ryan shook his head and headed out of the shop.

---

What the woman in the voodoo shop had told him wouldn't leave his mind. He didn't believe in voodoo or anything like that but what that lady had told him left him puzzled. He parked his car outside MDPD crime lab, stepped outside and entered the building. Inside he saw Phoebe. It looked like she was waiting for someone.

"Ryan, I haven't seen you all day." Phoebe smiled.

"Are you waiting for someone?" Ryan asked curiously.

"I'm waiting for Dan."

"Really?"

"Yes. We're having lunch together."

Ryan was about to say something but changed his mind. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine."

"Do you know where Eric is?"

"I think he is interrogating a suspect." She paused a little. "I think I'm going to wait outside." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Bye."

Ryan looked at Phoebe until she went into the elevator. He turned and took a step.

"Wolfe!" It came from behind him.

He turned and saw Eric. "Did you have any luck with the boyfriend?"

"No." He crossed his arms. "He's high as a kite and he assaulted a police officer. I'm going to wait. Did you have any luck with the voodoo shop?"

"No. The woman had an alibi. She was with her husband in Jamaica. Came home early this morning."

"So...I guess we've reached a dead end until Amanda's boyfriend is ready to talk."

"Yeah, it looks like it."


End file.
